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Retell is a platform for building, testing, and deploying AI phone agents that hold natural conversations over the phone.
1

Create your account

  1. Visit the Retell Dashboard
  2. Sign up for a new account
New accounts start with $10 in free trial credits, no payment method required. You’ll only need to add one if you want to purchase a phone number.
2

Create a new agent

  1. Navigate to the “Agents” tab
  2. Click “Create an agent”
  3. Pick the agent type: Single prompt (easy to start, simple free-form conversations) or Conversational flow (production-ready, deterministic conversations)
  4. Choose how to start: click Build from scratch to build everything yourself, pick a ready-made template like Receptionist or Insurance Verification Caller, or click Generate from prompt (marked Suggested) to let Conductor draft an agent from a plain-English description of your use case
Create agent dialog: pick a Single prompt or Conversational flow type, then choose Build from scratch, the suggested Generate from prompt option, or a ready-made template like Insurance Verification Caller.
3

Test your agent

  1. Click the “Test” button to start a web call with your agent
  2. Allow microphone access when your browser prompts for it, then talk to your agent like a real caller
This step is free and doesn’t need a phone number or payment method. You can test a draft agent this way as many times as you want before publishing it.
Single Prompt Agent editor with the prompt on the left and Functions in the middle; an arrow points to the Test Audio panel on the right with its Run Test button.
4

Deploy to a phone number

  1. Go to the “Phone Numbers” tab
  2. Click “Buy New Number”
  3. If you don’t have a payment method on file yet, add one: click “Add Payment Method” right on the “New Number” page, or go to the “Billing” tab and click “Manage Payment Methods” to add one through Stripe
  4. (Optional) Enter the area code you want to buy the number for
  5. Purchase your number
  6. Assign your agent to the number in the configuration settings
Retell-managed numbers are US and Canada only: $2 per month for normal phone numbers, $5 per month for toll-free phone numbers. If you need a number from another country or want to bring your own telephony provider, see custom telephony instead.
Phone number configuration page with arrows pointing to the Inbound Call Agent and Outbound Call Agent selectors, where you assign agents to handle calls.
5

Test your phone agent

  1. Incoming Calls:
    • Dial your purchased number
  2. Outbound Calls:
    • Click “Make an outbound call”
    • Enter the phone number including the country code (e.g., +12137774445)
Congratulations! Your agent is now live. It can:
  • Receive incoming calls
  • Make outbound calls
  • Handle natural conversations 24/7

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FAQ

Check your browser’s site permissions and allow microphone access for the dashboard, then click “Test” again. If you dismissed the permission prompt, most browsers require you to re-enable it from the address bar’s site settings rather than retriggering the prompt automatically.
No. Web call testing (step 3) works on a draft, unpublished agent with no payment method or phone number required. You only need a number once you want to make or receive real phone calls.
Not as a Retell-managed number. Connect your own provider instead. See custom telephony.
Double-check the card details and try again, or add a different payment method from the “Billing” tab. See add payment methods for more detail.

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Next steps

Now that your agent works, keep going:

Customize Your Agent

See everything you can configure, prompts, voice, knowledge, and more

Add Functions

Integrate APIs and external services into your agent

Monitor Performance

Track call metrics and analyze agent performance

Set Up Post-Call Analysis

Automatically extract structured data like call outcome and sentiment from every call

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